The City of Casey’s recycling of hard-waste is becoming carbon neutral with several new electric trucks joining the fleet at WM Waste Management as part of a new waste contract.
The trucks are powered solely by battery power and have a charge of up to five hours before needing to be recharged.
One truck has already hit the road with two more to follow in the coming weeks.
WM Managing Director Mark Jeffs said that it was vital that essential services lead the way in going carbon neutral.
“Electric trucks are a key demonstration of our support for renewable energy as they significantly reduce our environmental footprint and improve the sustainability of residential hard waste collection.”
Mr Jeffs also stressed the impact of these types of decisions in the broader scheme of climate change.
“It’s massively important. We need to be doing this for our grandkids, for the next generation to continue living on this planet.”
City of Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon said, “this is a terrific breakthrough in technology that will mean locals have a more sustainable hard waste collection with less noise, making their streets more liveable.”
The trucks are the first of their kind to be designed and manufactured in Australia by Superior Pak, a leading manufacturer of waste collection equipment, and in collaboration with Australian automotive technology company SEA Electric.
Each electric truckload of waste will save approximately 180 kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere when operational as compared with an equivalent diesel truck.
After evaluating the success of the electric vehicles, WM hopes to move to more battery-powered vehicles in the future.
To find out more about the new electric vehicles visit SEA Electric's website.